Winter Training 2018

Winter Training Trip - Spain

After six months worth of organising and preparations leading up to the Winter Training Trip there was always going to be a certain degree of anxiousness as we all eagerly anticipated our first trip to Mar Menor Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain.

With 8 rounds of golf to play in 10 days and with only 1 day off and 1 practice day it was always going to be a very busy schedule but one that we knew the students would thoroughly enjoy. Throughout the duration of the training we played a variety of different championship courses which were all expertly designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus. The courses included Hacienda Riquelme, Alhama Signature, El Valle, La Torre and Mar Menor Golf Resort. Each course provided its own challenging test with a huge amount of bunkers with extremely quick and undulating greens.

The students competed in various different formats including a 2 day Ryder Cup competition were they played four ball better ball on the first day and singles on the second day. The first of the British Schools qualifying also took place before the 54 hole Stroke Play event on the final 3 days.

The 54 hole stroke play competition took place at Hacienda Riquelme, Alhama Signature and El Valle Golf Courses over the final 3 days. Thankfully all of the students had the benefit of playing each of these courses in the first week which would be very beneficial.

After round 1 Paul Conroy lead the way with an excellent 2 over par 74. In a tie for 2nd place was Caolan Smith and Darragh Lynch. Caolan Smith produced the best nett score of the day with an impressive score of 60 after playing the back 9 in 1-under par gross. His round was also capped off with a holed bunker shot on the 18th. Gareth Reid made 3 birdies in a row from the 13th on his way to a net 67.